Found a useful reference for those interested in the minutae of MMORPGs:
http://www.mmogchart.com/
Chap there seems at least as obsessed as me, but far more dedicated and methodical. Points of interest include:
Honeymooners: Almost all of the games seem to soar on launch, then fall off to about a half to a third of peak population, within two months. I can relate to this...the 'oooooh' factor rarely lasts.
Always a Bigger Fish: Despite World of Warcraft being as popular as it is, over half of all MMORPG subscriptions are still accounted for by Lineage and Lineage II; monster hits in the Far East, with Warcraft only counting for about 15%, even during it's peak phase (see above). Puts things in perspective a bit.
Orks'n'Dorks: Tired old fantasy 'swords and sorcery' mileau make up 87% of all MMORPG titles. Considering the number of alternatives even I can think of just off the top of my head (Steampunk, Western, Prehistoric, Noir, Gangster, etc), it just goes to show both how conditioned we the players are, and how unwilling to experiement, the devs and publishers are. I fear for Originality in forthcoming titles.
We're Still Not Mainstream: A figure of 3.7 million subscribers, worldwide, is still only about 1/4 the number of people in the UK who watched Eastenders on 7th Feb. (http://www.barb.co.uk/viewingsummary/weekreports.cfm?report=weeklyterrestrial). Indeed, you have to go right down to The Weakest Link on BBC2, midweek, to find a comparable figure, so it puts things in perspective a little.
Still, numbers are always fascinating...